CHAMPAIGN, Ill. • After facing each other four times this season, there was no doubt in Lavion Mayes' mind that he and Benard Gantt would square off in the finals of the Illinois Class 2A state individual wrestling tournament.
As it turns out, Mayes was right. The Mascoutah senior beat Dylan Hay of Grayslake Central 12-6 in a 145-pound semifinal match, while Cahokia's Gantt defeated Dalton Coleman of Mount Zion 8-4 in the other semifinal bout Friday night to advance to tomorrow's (Saturday) finals, set for 7 p.m. at Assembly Hall.
Mayes, whose only loss came to Gantt earlier in the season, improved to 42-1. Gantt upped his record to 32-7.
"About the third or fourth time I face him, I just knew me and him were going to see each other a lot," Mayes said. "If I knew I'd have to beat him for the state championship... I just have to go out there and be aggressive and shoot and wrestle how I want to wrestle."
Being aggressive is what put Mayes in the finals after he all but controlled the semifinal bout against Hay. Mayes, who had taken Hay down three times in the match, was in front 6-5 when he put Hay on the mat for a fourth time to grab an 8-5 lead.
"I wasn't that concerned," Mayes said. "For me, it's more about scoring the takedowns, because I'm not going to give them up."
"(He is) very motivated and very driven," Mascoutah coach Chris Lindsay said of Mayes. There's no doubt in my mind that he's the best one in this weight class."
Gantt, whose brother Thomas finished second last season at 140 pounds, had beaten Coleman 13-3 in the semifinals of the Mount Zion Sectional one week ago.
"Once I got the takedown, it was my match all the way," Gantt said. "I tried to stay offensive, and I got a little sloppy. But it was all good in the end."
Civic Memorial senior David Pearce (25-2) will square off with George Fisher in the finals at 126 after Pearce (25-2) beat Doug Johnson of DeKalb 7-5. Pearce was in front 7-3 with five seconds left when Johnson took Pearce down for two points, but Pearce managed to hold on.
"I dominated the whole match, I felt like," said Pearce. "But the third period I got tired, but in the end he caught me in a headlock. I shouldn't have let it happen. Bad decision on my part. I think I'll be fine. The next one is what I'm worried about."
In Class 3A, Blake Blair of Edwardsville (195) and Taylor McGiffen (182) of Alton will each take part in the finals for the first time.
Blair scored a 2-point takedown with three seconds to go and had to survive a last-ditch surge by Matt Koran of Joliet West to beat Koran 5-4. Blair (40-4) faces Brad Johnson of Lockport.
"I just knew in my mind I had to be aggressive," said Blair, who trailed 4-3 when he scored his two points. "In my mind, I believed I was going to get those points to win it."
"I'm going to savor this moment," said Tigers coach Jon Wagner, who will be coaching his first wrestler in the finals. "The way he did it at the end. That kid's got one of the best standups we've ever seen."
McGiffen (46-1) took care of Evan Welsh of Wheaton Warrenville South 7-2 and will face Sammy Brooks of Oak Park-River Forest in the finals. Brooks finished second at 171 last season.
"There was definitely no doubt in my mind I would get to the finals," McGiffen said. "I've been working hard every single day. This has been my goal since I was a freshman. I just went out there with confidence."
